Freelancer is a three-dimensional Space Sim which combines the open exploratory gameplay of Elite (1984) with an integrated linear plot (see Interactive Narrative). The player character is Edison Trent, a down on his luck "freelancer" who needs a new ship. Soon the player is involved with a secret alien invasion, searching for a mysterious artefact that can eventually be used to help save humanity. The setting is a Space Opera universe in which different solar systems have been settled by particular nation states from Earth, leading to a range of somewhat stereotyped future cultures. Many different factions inhabit Freelancer's universe, including pirates, corporations and naval forces; the player can decide which to ally with or oppose. While not participating in plot developments, players can choose to mine asteroids, salvage wrecked ships, trade or go on bounty-hunting missions. After the story has concluded, they can continue with these activities, wandering freely through space.

Space itself is very crowded in Freelancer. In contrast to the realistic TheX Series (1999), distance and time scales are manipulated to ensure that the player's environment is always interesting and involving. Combat resembles aerial dogfighting, as in Star Wars: X-Wing (1993), with an interface which emphasizes ease of use. While the story lacks a certain degree of credibility and the free-roaming gameplay can become repetitive, Freelancer is an entirely competent example of its form. It has proved popular as a multiplayer game, where many players share a single persistent Online World, trading, fighting and cooperating with each other and with computer controlled characters.

Related works:Starlancer (2000 DA / Warthog, DC, Win) designed by Erin Roberts is a combat-based Space Sim, strongly influenced by the early Wing Commander (1990) games. It is set in a future version of the solar system which has been extensively colonized, during a war which broadly recapitulates the East versus West standoff of the late twentieth century. In Starlancer, however, the war has turned hot, and the player, as a starfighter pilot for the (Western) Alliance, appears to be on the losing side. The linear story is effectively integrated into the player's complexly designed missions. The game also serves as a prequel to Freelancer, whose interstellar colonies are said to have been founded by refugees from the defeated Alliance. [NT]

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We passed a couple of major milestones on 1st August: the SFE is now over 4.5 million words, of which John Clute’s own contribution has now exceeded 2 million. (For comparison, the 1993 second edition was 1.3 million words, and … Continue reading →

We’ve reached a couple of milestones recently. The SFE gallery of book covers now has more than 10,000 images: this one seemed appropriate for the 10,000th. Our series of slideshows of thematically linked covers has continued to grow, and Darren Nash of … Continue reading →

We’ve been talking for a while about new features to add to the SFE, and another one has gone live today: the Gallery, which collects together covers for sf books and links them back to SFE entries. To quote from … Continue reading →